Michelle P. Brown, "Illumino: A History of Medieval Britain in Twelve Illuminated Manuscripts" (Reaktion, 2025)

About this episode

The episode discusses the history of medieval Britain through twelve illuminated manuscripts and their significance.

The history of medieval Britain through twelve remarkable illuminated manuscripts. Illumino: A History of Medieval Britain in Twelve Illuminated Manuscripts (Reaktion, 2025) explores the history of medieval Britain through the biographies of twelve remarkable illuminated manuscripts and of their creators and owners. The manuscripts each serve as portals into these lives and as springboards into the era of their production. For illuminated manuscripts are among the most intricate and fascinating forms of evidence for the Middle Ages, blending the fruits of human intellect – the arts, the sciences, politics, philosophy and faith – with the materiality of their production. By undertaking the detective work needed to determine the nature of each project and the underlying human-interest stories, this book reveals their manifold social, economic and cultural contexts and charts the exchange of ideas, techniques and materials over time and space. Featuring more than a hundred beautiful illustrations, this is a unique and accessible introduction to Britain’s history, art history and book history across a thousand years. Michelle P. Brown is Professor Emerita of Medieval Manuscript…

People in this episode

Guest: Michelle P. Brown

Topics covered

• medieval Britain
• illuminated manuscripts
• art history
• book history
• cultural context
• biographies

Keywords

• medieval manuscripts
• history
• illustrations
• cultural exchange
• human-interest stories

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of London, British Library

Books & works: Illumino: A History of Medieval Britain in Twelve Illuminated Manuscripts, Bede and the Theory of Everything

Places: Britain

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